SCENT MEMORIES

HI Everyone!

Signs of Spring are everywhere!  Magnolia trees are blossoming in my son's neighborhood. I wanted to get a shot of the huge magnolia blossoms but they were too high up in the tree! I captured three stages of the blossom for you instead in the photo below.





When I walked inside the house I saw this magnolia blossom on the counter, of course it is now brown and fading but the colors caught my attention and I thought it would make a lovely sketch to add to my sketch journal.

Isn't the pink in the center lovely? 



Don't you just love the smell of Magnolia trees? I do! It is one of the scents I remember from childhood, like gardenias, honeysuckle and jasmine, roses and mimosa fragrances. Gosh, those smells take me back to a sweeter time. Isn't it funny how certain scents can zap you back in time? 

Oh, I have a scent trigger of Evening in Paris perfume that takes me back to my granny's house, to her bedroom and dressing table on a warm summer's day. 

Evening in Paris

What scent brings back fond memories for you? Please share! 

Have a beautiful day!

Suzy

Clouds of White Butterflies

Hi Everyone!

    The saw the most amazing thing today as I was driving home from the island!  Coming over the Causeway I was admiring the beauty of the day, white puffy clouds in an intense blue sky, the breeze gently blowing the palms, the inlet waters were several shades of blue, dazzling sunlight. 

Veined White Butterfly

    Just as I came to a stop at the traffic light there was a sudden swarm of white butterflies crossing the lanes of traffic.  It was a huge swarm...I've never seen anything like it, delicate white wings fluttering and swooping, weaving this way and that.  I wondered if anyone else notice this phenomenon.  All the way home I notice there were white butterflies everywhere I looked, fluttering here and there. It was the strangest thing, yet one of the most beautiful amazing moments. As soon as I got in the door, I ran for the studio to try and capture the moment in my journal. 

A large group of butterflies is called a lek, swarm, rabble

     How would I depict the swarm of butterflies? Embossing came to mind. I used embossing powder to stamp the butterfly shapes, gesso to fill in the outlines and added a bit of Dazzle to give the body dimension. Cerulean Blue seemed to be the perfect color of the day and would help the white butterflies stand out on the background, watercolor also seemed like the perfect solution for media. 

      

     Kinda wish I had planned the journaling to meander through the butterflies but that thought didn't occur to me until later in the process.  Well, maybe next time. 

     Keeping your eyes open, look for the unexpected and be prepared to capture the moment! Have fun!

Happy Journaling! 

Suzy

MRS. PAINT JOURNAL

Hi Everyone!

When my children were little I read them a book about colors that had a character called Mr. Paint Pig. Oh how they loved this book and the colors! 
I can't remember the name of the book now but I was reminded of it when I started looking through a painted journal I found while making an attempt to clean up and clear some space around my work table. It's another journal made from a Composition Notebook.

The first journal featured scrapbook papers altered with paint, stamping, inks, etc. you can see it here.  I used a Composition Notebook again, this time I glued about 4-5 sheets of the lined paper together to create a heavier page and applied acrylic paints directly to the lined pages. 

The purpose of this journal was to use different paint color combinations and see what happened.

Using an old credit card to lay the paints on top of one another was fun too. If the colors weren't working, a smear of gesso helped me to go in another direction. 

I actually like the pages that gesso was added on better than some of the others.

Sometimes I get so excited about color and embellishing that I forget to leave a space to journal any thoughts.  This method of painting directly over the lined pages worked great, you can still see some of the lines (not that you need to write on the lines). I like the way that looks. 

Blue + Yellow=Green

Pulling out the Dylusion Spray Inks for a bit of fun spray and play:

Spray inks with Acrylics

Here's a few pages actually journaled on and added embellishments to:

I cut the Easter Eggs from a cellophane wrapper and glued to the page.

Art project with Bree

Hope you enjoyed my little paint project! Pull out your paints and start your own Paint Journal! 

Most of all, have fun doing it! 

Bee Creative!

Suzy

P.S.
Uh, just Googled it: Richard Scarry's COLOR BOOK (Mr. Paint Pig)

Linking to: Paint Party Friday, Art Journal Everyday, Crafty Thursday Obsessions;Tabitha Lenox

COMPOSITION JOURNAL

Hi Everyone,

     Do you love or collect paper?  For someone who is not a scrapbooker, there is a large amount of scrapbook paper in my possession.  I love the stuff! The patterns, colors, texture all sing to my color loving heart!  So what to do with this paper abundance? 
     Since scrapbooking is out of the question for me, journals seem a likely solution to the paper problem.  I found lots of inspiration on YouTube when I typed in journals.  One in particular that appealed to the paper hoarder in me used a Composition notebook, the kind you find at the Dollar store.  YouTube has many videos on this subject to stir your creative imagination just type in Composition notebook journals and see what comes up!

      Now, all of you journal ladies stop cringing at the thought of using scrap paper, it was just a jumping off point.....

Paint over the paper, add stamps, rub ons, stickers, collage and other stuff to round out each page. Add as much or as little as you like. 

     The most time consuming process was the page prep: gluing the lined paper together (for sturdier pages) and cutting the patterned papers  down to fit the notebook pages and gluing them on the lined paper. Then the pages needed a bit of reinforcement: I used masking tape to reinforce the seam area of the pages.

    Then came the fun part!  I LOVED picking out each paper and finding another piece to work together and then the painting and decorating was an absolute blast! I could hardly wait to get home each day to play in my book!

    This project took about 1 month to complete, working only for limited time in the evenings.  If you have a stack of scrapbook papers, stickers and other bits and pieces that you don't know what to do with, try making one of these.  I guarantee that you will enjoy the process! Have fun and oh yeah, buy extra glue! 

Be Creative,
Suzy

The Ordinary Life

Hi Everyone! 

It's been awhile but I found myself playing in my art journal this week between working and caring for my grandchildren.  In my Monday night theology class we were discussing the spirituality of vocation and the fact that God is in everything we do, our work, our relationships, in our ordinary life. I was thinking that my vocation and ordinary life intermingle and sometimes it seems that my life is mostly the same day after day.  Maybe you feel that way too. It's not a bad thing, the ordinary and I'm not complaining, I'm just saying there is comfort in living the ordinary life. Looking around and seeing the blessings of each day, in the ordinary. So this week I suppose I was recording ordinary life in my journal pages. 
You can check out this ordinary life by clicking on the page tab above: ART JOURNAL. I'll share my personal art and stories behind the art with you. 

I

Tell me, does your art imitate your personal life, your vocation and your relationships? 

Happy Painting!
Suzy

Linking to: Paint Party Friday, Art Journal Every Day,

DELICATE BEAUTY

Hi Everyone!

It's the first hibiscus of the season! Right outside my living room window this bush/tree blooms it's little heart out. The pale peach blooms with hot pink middles are gorgeous. The blossoms last only for a day and then they are gone. Luckily, the bush has more than one bloom at a time and puts on quite the floral show each day. 

On my front porch is a collection of orchids, blooming at various times.  These phalaenopsis are from our daughters wedding last July. They have bloomed twice since the wedding.  

And finally, this small little beauty. Another phalaenopsis orchid. Sorry about the photo, the wind was blowing and I was trying to hold it still enough for the camera. I love the creamy pale yellow under the magenta veining pattern on the petals. Delicate beauty. 

Guess you would say we are lucky to live in the tropics where such beautiful things grow in abundance. What's blooming in your area? 

Have a wonderful day!
Suzy

New Baby....Chinese Coin Quilt.......Nursery Canvas Art

Hi Everyone!

Yeah, it’s me again.

Posting TWICE in one week…must be some kind of record.

I couldn't wait to introduce our new grandson, JACKSON and to share two of my latest art and quilting projects with you! Earlier this week I shared the Lap top sleeve I made before jetting off to Texas to visit our daughter and hubby and our new grandson. 

So here's what we've been waiting for: Official photo of Jackson with his Mimi! 

To hold him in our arms at last!  Precious, precious, precious! Mimi and Papa are over the moon in love with Jackson!

You might remember, I was working on a Chinese Coins quilt for Jackson and I promised to post a photo (or two) of it when it was finished. 

  

Last minute Suzy was putting binding on just before we left for our trip. LOL!

You can see that Jackson loves his new quilt! In fact the whole family loved it so much, each person used it while rocking the baby (and napping too).

I also painted this 8" x 10" canvas for our baby grandson, keeping in mind his mommy’s simple yet modern style (and color request of green, brown and blue). 

Although Jackson doesn’t officially have a nursery yet, it will be a great addition to his room. 

Just can't resist sharing one more photo of our little guy! 

Happy Weekend!

Suzy

Linking to: Sew Many Ways; Paint Party Friday,Sunshine & Summer Breezes